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I disagree with the concept of E-bikes in general. You are just displacing your pollution, as the energy you are storing in the battery generates much more CO2 and other pollutants than--and is much less efficient--than your own metabolism.
E-bikes mean less exercise, more cost, more things to break/discharge/wear out and more pollution. You are basically shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars so you don't sweat on your way to work.
A better solution would be to find a shower facility nearby, or carry a hygiene kit that would do the same job for thousands less, while you get healthier.
Yeah, I guess that is why you don't do it? It is much tougher when you have to work a professional level job and appear presentable with clients. Not happening for most people with a sweat powered bike.
I disagree with the concept of E-bikes in general. You are just displacing your pollution, as the energy you are storing in the battery generates much more CO2 and other pollutants than--and is much less efficient--than your own metabolism.
E-bikes mean less exercise, more cost, more things to break/discharge/wear out and more pollution. You are basically shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars so you don't sweat on your way to work.
A better solution would be to find a shower facility nearby, or carry a hygiene kit that would do the same job for thousands less, while you get healthier.
Ebikes are a useless gimmick, IMO. Might as well buy a Segway.
I have to disagree with this post, wholeheartedly. The ebike replaces a car, not a sweat-powered bike. You just can't pedal a bike to and from work while wearing business casual clothes without needing a shower. You suggest that you find a shower facility nearby- do you have any idea how long that would add to your commute, every day, day in day out? Honestly it sounds like a suggestion made by a young single person without anywhere else to be.
People with families, or even just better things to do, wouldn't add 20+ minutes to their commute just to avoid using electricity. You know as well as I do that those people would just get in their gasoline powered cars and drive to work.
Further, the efficiency of a gas car used to drive short distances is much lower than a car used to drive longer distances since the cars use more fuel to warm up. You are also hurting the environment more because cars put out more pollution in the first 3 minutes than they do in the next 57 minutes of a 1 hour drive because the catalytic converter doesn't remove pollutants until it gets up to operating temperature.
It's just hilarious that in your world, the options are sweat powered bike + 20 minutes of showering (plus bringing a change of clothes every day, which is annoying) or burning dinosaurs and polluting. eBikes are PERFECT in this regard- in many parts of the country the electricity is generated from clean sources, and even if it isn't, the amount of electricity consumed by an eBike is infinitesimally small compared to the amount of energy consumed by a car to go the same distance. Doing apples to apples, it uses the entire hybrid battery of my Lexus to drive 2 miles without the gas engine on, and that's roughly 1,000 watt hours (1.5kwh battery but it doesn't use the whole thing). A typical eBike uses about 20 watt hours per mile, or 40 watt hours for the same trip. So, burn a whole kwh to take the car or burn 0.04 kwh to take the bike.
If you were comparing an eBike to a Vespa, I might give you more credit although I would still argue for the eBike, but comparing an eBike to a regular bike or to a car just makes no sense.
Good comments NYCresident, I too disagree with Wac's comments. Peddling a bike the distance I would need to go, 11 miles) to get to work is not an option in my humid climate, there are no gyms or shower facilities close enough to make this a viable solution. Include in that that I am 64 years old, with bad knees, so peddling that far is a hardship for me physically. Bus service is sparse and unreliable, leaving me with two choices, automobile or motorcycle. To me an electric powered motorcycle is the best of those two choices, however both are required to ride on streets. An E-Bike is allowed on hike & bike trails and sidewalks, a much safer choice as we have lots of dedicagted hike and bike trails around here.
Plus, E-bikes are typically recharged overnight when electrical demand is low and power plants are underutilized. In addition many communities, especially here in Texas, are changing over to getting a lot of that power from wind and other renewable resources, so reducing pollution even further. I do think that electric cars and bikes are a more viable future and we should be moving in that direction.
Good comments NYCresident, I too disagree with Wac's comments. Peddling a bike the distance I would need to go, 11 miles) to get to work is not an option in my humid climate, there are no gyms or shower facilities close enough to make this a viable solution. Include in that that I am 64 years old, with bad knees, so peddling that far is a hardship for me physically. Bus service is sparse and unreliable, leaving me with two choices, automobile or motorcycle. To me an electric powered motorcycle is the best of those two choices, however both are required to ride on streets. An E-Bike is allowed on hike & bike trails and sidewalks, a much safer choice as we have lots of dedicagted hike and bike trails around here.
Plus, E-bikes are typically recharged overnight when electrical demand is low and power plants are underutilized. In addition many communities, especially here in Texas, are changing over to getting a lot of that power from wind and other renewable resources, so reducing pollution even further. I do think that electric cars and bikes are a more viable future and we should be moving in that direction.
I totally agree- the ability to ride on trails instead of roads is also another huge perk over cars and motorcycles.
Did you end up buying the bike that you mentioned in the OP? I personally just bought a 250 watt eBike and it is plenty powerful to get up to ~18mph or so on flats and gets me up all the hills in my area without my assistance. I think 350 watts would be plenty as long as your goal is an eBike that goes roughly the same speed as a normal bike. Some eBikers go a little overboard and get 1000 or even 2000 watt motors and go 50+ mph, but in that case it's not really something I would want to share the bike paths with.
I totally agree- the ability to ride on trails instead of roads is also another huge perk over cars and motorcycles.
Did you end up buying the bike that you mentioned in the OP? I personally just bought a 250 watt eBike and it is plenty powerful to get up to ~18mph or so on flats and gets me up all the hills in my area without my assistance. I think 350 watts would be plenty as long as your goal is an eBike that goes roughly the same speed as a normal bike. Some eBikers go a little overboard and get 1000 or even 2000 watt motors and go 50+ mph, but in that case it's not really something I would want to share the bike paths with.
I cancelled my order for the eBike after reading some of the initial responses on this thread. I decided I should research what else was available before making a decision. I have no had time currently to do that but am still interested in doing so.
Go to endless-sphere.com and read up on what everyone is building. It's not hard to convert a bike yourself, and for $700-1000, you can have a very reliable ebike that has plenty of power, a quality lithium battery that will last at least 4 years.
As for ebikes polluting? Food production to fuel a cyclist 100% is vastly more polluting when you consider the typical American diet. Not to mention the fuel to cook the food. An ebike can go 20 miles on the same energy it takes to cook a bowl of pasta on the stove. (0.4kwh)
Or the extra hot water for more laundry and showers.
Riding a regular bike is great for up to about 8 flat mile per day, because exercise is good. But long bike commutes are rarely more energy efficient for a regular commuter who doesn't need to lose fat.
BTW, I have ebike parts for sale on craigslist in Austin. Why don't you message me?
Last edited by veloman777; 11-05-2015 at 12:13 PM..
Bicycling a great way to combine transportation and exercise. Why eliminate the latter benefit by having an e-bike? Just get an actual bicycling for effs sake! It's efficient transportation and decent exercise as well.
Bicycling a great way to combine transportation and exercise. Why eliminate the latter benefit by having an e-bike? Just get an actual bicycling for effs sake! It's efficient transportation and decent exercise as well.
I bought my ebike to replace my car for work, not to get more exercise (although I am definitely getting more with my bike than my car). As a dog walker I'm already walking or jogging for 3-4 hours a day in a community that was built on the side of a plateau. There is a 2 mile road leading up and down the hill with near constant 7-12% grades with an additional back road that has a 15% grade (it's only .75mi though). It's completely inconceivable that I would be able to get up those roads on my own power and still have energy to do the walks.. much less in a specific time frame. I would have to give up a couple clients to do it, if I could even do it at all.
I've lived in other communities in the midwest where I would never had thought to get an ebike. I used to have one of those really nice chariot trailers and my townie electra and I'd haul 2 kids and a pile of groceries every other day. It was a wonderful time, but the kids grew up and we moved to a topographically exciting area. I'm just happy I'm back out there again.
BTW: One month of ebike ownership and I'm completely smitten!
Bicycling a great way to combine transportation and exercise. Why eliminate the latter benefit by having an e-bike? Just get an actual bicycling for effs sake! It's efficient transportation and decent exercise as well.
You obviously didn't read the preceding posts, as your question was answered numerous times in them.
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